Czech leader gets 1-finger salute

A Prague artist has given Czech President Milos Zeman the finger — a huge purple one floating on the river — to protest against his soft spot for old-school Communists just days before a snap election.

“It’s a middle-fingered salute at the fucking Communist shits in (Prague) Castle,” outspoken artist David Cerny told local media on Tuesday.
Floating on a barge on the Vltava river in Prague’s historic center, the 33-foot-high purple sculpture of a fist with a long protruding middle finger is aimed right at Zeman’s presidential headquarters in Prague Castle.

Cerny is known for his hatred of the Communists, who ruled the former Czechoslovakia in 1948-1989 and are poised to regain some of their power in the two-day election ending on Saturday.

While the Social Democrats (CSSD) are likely to win, they will almost certainly have to rely on Communists – some with Stalinist sympathies – to govern.